At its best, the sensation of writing is that of an unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain, and then — and only then — is it handed to you.

. . . who can say for sure about anything? And yet there are some things I would be willing to bet maybe even my life on.

That life is grace, for instance–the givenness of it, the fathomlessness of it, the endless possibilities of its becoming transparent to something extraordinary beyond itself. That–as I picked up somewhere in Jung and whittled into the ash stick I use for tramping around through the woods sometimes — vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit, which I take to mean that in the long run, whether you call on him or don’t call on him, God will be present with you. – Frederick Buechner, Now and Then

Friendship is like a step to raise us to the love and knowledge of God. – Aelred of Rievaulx

“We do not wish for friends to feed and clothe our bodies, but to do [a similar thing] to our spirits.” – Henry David Thoreau

Friendships, even when they do not end in conflict, sometimes wane as people drift apart. We create ambivalent bonds. Sometimes I hold back to protect myself. – Timothy Jones

“Often we simply need someone with whom we can simply be. A friend, a family circle, a church can help us face the week’s hurts and hopes with the assurance that others know about what we face. . . . Friends can become bearers of grace.” – Timothy Jones

Texas

spirituality

spirituality

spirituality
The spiritual life is not a special career, involving abstraction from the world of things. It is a part of every man's life; and until he has realized it, he is not a complete human being, has not entered into possession of all his powers."
~ Evelyn Underhill

we yearn

Richard Foster
We today yearn for prayer and hide from prayer. We are attracted to it and repelled by it. We believe prayer is something we should do, even something we want to do, but it seems like a chasm stands between us and actually praying. We experience the agony of prayer-lessness.